Two Newhall Land Execs Are Retiring

Two veteran development executives with Newhall Land Development are retiring, the Santa Clarita Signal reports today.

Mark Subbotin has been with Newhall Land, formerly Newhall Land and Farming Company, for 24 years, and most recently serves as vice president of community planning. He will be retiring this month. Subbotin was involved in planning Valencia's Northbridge and NorthPark neighborhoods, and spearheaded the environmental impact review for Newhall Ranch, a 21,000-home development just west of Santa Clarita that the company is planning to build over the next quarter-century.

Also retiring is Steve Zimmer, who spent 12 years with Newhall Land and serves as executive vice president for planning. Zimmer, who is also an attorney, will be retiring at the end of May but will remain with the company as a consultant. He has been involved with many Newhall Land developments, including West Creek, West Hills and Newhall Ranch.

Valencia, which Newhall Land launched in the 1960s, is still considered a model for master-planned communities around the nation.

Metro CEO Tells Builders He Understands Fee Impacts

The CEO of L.A. County’s powerful Metropolitan Transportation Commission pledged last week to continue working with builders and other stakeholders as Metro continues its process to determine whether it will impose transportation fees on developers.

Art Leahy urged more than 25 people at the LA/Ventura Chapter’s bimonthly “Intimate Conversations” lunch at the Skirball Cultural Center to continue participating in the process as Metro decides if it should impose transportation fees on builders similar to those already in place in Riverside and Orange counties.

“We don’t have a recommendation yet. That won’t happen until late this year or early next. You need to continue to comment to us…(but) we do understand the impact of any type of fee increase in this economy,” Leahy said.

The Chapter is an active participant in a development community task force advising Metro on the issue.

Leahy also pledged that Metro would not get involved in land use planning at the local level as the state and region move toward implementing SB 375, a major component in the state’s efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled and encouraging jobs and homes to be in close proximity.

But he did warn that nobody in the room should ignore SB 375 because while there are no penalties now on the books, “who knows about the future.”

Two more Intimate Conversations sessions are scheduled. Sam Unger, executive officer of the L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board, is scheduled for April 26 and L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich will round out the series on May 24. Sessions , which include lunch, are held at the Skirball Center off the 405 Freeway and Mulholland Drive and cost just $25. To register or for more information, contact Events Manager Maile Imig at mimig@bialav.org.



Taylor Morrison Sold for $955 Million

Top 10 North American homebuilder Taylor Morrison is being sold to a private investment consortium for $955 million, according to top company officials.

Taylor Wimpey plc announced today that it has agreed to sell its North American holdings, Taylor Morrison in the United States and Monarch in Canada, to investment funds separately managed by TPG Capital and Oaktree Capital Management, as well as JH Investments.

Solar Homes Will Be on the Market on Sunday

We reported a few days ago that KB Home was planning on offering solar power as a standard feature in several new-home developments around Southern California. Now the L.A. Daily News has some further details.

The paper's Greg Wilcox reports that KB will be building more than 350 of the homes  in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, and will start taking orders Sunday for the first 224 homes in Santa Clarita. The homes will be built in two developments - Echo Point and Echo Ridge. They will be built on 215 acres near Plum Canyon Road and Christopher Lane.

There will be 94 one- and two-story homes in Echo Ridge, starting in the high-$300,000 range. They will be 1,727 to 2,285 square feet, with three bathrooms and three to five bedrooms. Echo Point will consist of 130 two-story homes of 1,925 to 2,702 square feet, starting in the mid-$300,000s. Each will have three bathrooms and three or four bedrooms.

The company also plans to start construction later this spring on 43 solar homes in Newhall Ranch and 90 in Lancaster.

Steve Ruffner, KB's Southern California Division President, is optimistic that the homes will be popular:

"In these areas, there is just a lack of supply of new houses. Our homes will cost way less to operate than a resale home and we think that's a real ... game changer in the real estate market."



'California Rooms' a Hot Trend in Homebuilding

The Riverside Press Enterprise reports today on a hot new trend builders are incorporating into new homes in Orange and Riverside counties - partially enclosed outdoor space to allow buyers to enjoy the great California lifestyle year-round.

As reported by veteran housing writer Leslie Berkman:

A room with outdoor serenity and indoor comforts has grabbed the imagination of Southern California homebuyers and architects, who predict it could become as widespread in the post-recession housing market as walk-in closets and three-car garages.

The concept was introduced as the "California room" by the Irvine Co. in houses built last year on the Irvine Ranch.

An outdoor space that is furnished as luxuriously as if it were indoors, the California room is connected by sliding glass doors to the "great room," that combination of kitchen/family/dining area that in newer homes has supplanted formal living rooms and dining rooms.

The concept has been popular in custom homes for a number of years but has now made its way into production homes.